Most regional markets snubbed a positive lead from Wall Street this morning as softer commodity prices weighed on mining sectors.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was down 11 points or 0.22% at 4973 after gains for the big banks and utilities were countered by losses in energy (-1%), metals & mining (-0.8%) and materials (-0.8%).
A key gauge of business activity this morning showed conditions are the best they have been for two years. Business conditions rose 5 points to 13 last month from 8 in February - the highest reading since January 2008, according to the NAB's monthly survey.
"The March results were unusual in that every sector reported significant gains - particularly in manufacturing, retail and recreational and personal services," NAB chief economist Alan Oster said in a statement quoted on Fairfax.
Business confidence was also positive, but eased to 16 points last month from 19 points in February.
In company news, shares in ERA fell more than 5% after the uranium miner warned of softening market conditions. The miner also revealed reduced production last quarter due to bad weather and lower grades.
Japan's Nikkei shed 0.98% and most regional markets were lower. Shanghai and Hong Kong's Hang Seng bucked the downtrend, rallying 1.13% and 0.34% respectively. Dow futures dipped after Alcoa missed profit expectations with its first-quarter report released after the market had closed last night, but futures partially recovered to trade recently at -17.
Crude oil futures slid 4 cents this morning to $84.27 a barrel. The spot gold price was $2.20 lower at $1,152.90 an ounce.
As Alanmcg mentioned, this morning offered plenty of fleeting bounce-scalp opportunities. I managed to grab four - NUF, CWK, KGL and CDU. No big wins but they add up to a healthy day's wage. Possible bounce in PRY held from yesterday starting to shape up. BAU recovering from an early tantrum.
